North Dakota's Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park. Review on North Dakota

The combination of early Native American and military historical sites, scenic views, and outdoor activities make a visit to this park in the state of North Dakota worthwhile.

''We believe in North Dakota, in the beauty of her skies, and in the glory of her prairies.''

-A state creed, written by Frank L. McVey

Last year I took a seven hour road trip from the Twin Cities in Minnesota heading West towards Bismarck, North Dakota on I-94 to uncover my own beliefs about those beautiful skies and glorious prairies. FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN STATE PARK sits West of the Missouri River, and South of I-94, about seven miles South of Mandan, North Dakota on I-806.

Paying an entrance fee of $4. into the park, I was soon paying heed to the natural wooded scenery which flows alongside the Missouri and Heart Rivers. The park boasts many nature trails offering beautiful unbroken views of the Missouri. I traversed a one and a half mile paved trail along with bicyclists and other hikers.

If you enjoy observing the winged ones, you can go bird watching among the cottonwood trees. If fishing is your game, you can go fish for Northern Pike. Trail rides with guides are available for the horseback riding set. If Winter sports are your cup of cocoa, you can make a return trip during the Winter months to cross-country ski or go snow mobiling here.

There are nearly a hundred RV sites, as well as tent sites. Some of these have electricity and some do not. The modern campsites are all furnished with showers and flush toilets. There is also a children's playground in the park. In the southern end of the park is The Veterans Cemetery.

There is a Visitors Center in the park which houses a museum and a gift shop. The park is open all year long. During the summer months, reserved campsites are available at FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN STATE PARK by calling 1-800-807-4723.

Along the riverbanks of the Heart there are plenty of picnic areas. There are more picnic sites on the hills near the historic site of On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village. On-A-Slant was appropriately named for its location on sloping hills slanting towards the Missouri River. Reconstructed ''earthlodges'' paint a historical picture of the way of life of the Mandan Indians, who occupied the village's locale for two hundred years, from the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s. The earth houses have holes in their roofs which acted as chimneys for the firepits built in the center of their ancient homes.

Unlike some groups of well-travelled Native American peoples, the Mandans were a more stay-at-home group. The Mandans grew vegetables and grain and traded tobacco and animal furs with other tribes. On-A-Slant served as a trading center for trappers who were traveling on the mighty Missouri, until a smallpox epidemic left the Mandan people all but extinct in the mid-1700's. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would lead a discovery expedition through the same spot a century later up the Missouri in 1804.

Accompanying the early Native American history is the military history, as there are also the reconstructions of military barracks and the home of General George Custer and his wife Elizabeth that you can visit within the park. The reproduction of the Custer House is complete with a grand piano in the parlor downstairs and guest rooms and servants’ quarters upstairs. In 1876, at the age of 36, Lt. Col. George A. Custer, along with units of the 7th Cavalry, departed Fort Abraham Lincoln to meet his destiny at Little Big Horn River, in a south-central Montana battlefield.

Fifteen years earlier, Custer had graduated from West Point Academy, last in his class. A legend in his own time, his ''Last Stand'' against the Sioux at Little Big Horn remains to this day a cause for legend and debate. Although buried on the battlefield in which he was rubbed out along with most of his regiment, the body of Custer was exhumed a year later and reburied in the Post Cemetery at West Point Military Academy, in West Point, New York.

Being in FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN STATE PARK, it is not difficult to imagine the peoples who inhabited the Northern Plains of centuries past. You can commune with nature and with history, as you pass across the same land that the Mandan Indians once called home, and Lewis and Clark once traversed.

''Onward, onward, onward going,

Light of courage in thine eyes,

Sweet the winds above thee blowing

Green thy fields and fair thy skies.

North Dakota, North Dakota,

Brave the Soul that in thee lies.''

-North Dakota Hymn, lyrics by James W. Foley

If you get the chance to visit North Dakota, why not become one with the wild prairie roses as you embrace the amber plains and reach for the clear skies.

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park

4480 Fort Lincoln Road

Mandan, ND 58554

To get more information about this park, you may call 701-663-4758.

Length of visit: Weekend

Best time to go: June-August

Recommended for: Anybody

Review Topic: Overview